California · Nonprofit
THE PLANETARY SOCIETY
THE PLANETARY SOCIETY (California) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,633,163 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($5,950,000). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 68% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.5M
- Funders on record
- 62
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $6.1M
What The Planetary Society does
Mission
The Planetary Society empowers the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration. Together with our members, The Planetary Society develops space technology, guides future space policy, and inspires people of all ages to value the adventure of exploration and the joy of discovery.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Science & technology:The Planetary Society invests in science and technology projects to advance innovative space exploration solutions and research. We provide seed funding to science and technology projects that advance planetary exploration, the search for life, and planetary defense.
$289,167 spentof which $89,962 as grants6% of program spendingCommunication and education:through education and communications, The Planetary Society expands the horizons of public knowledge about space exploration and helps citizens educate others about space. Our public information projects include the planetary report, our quarterly magazine for our members and supporters; planetary radio, our weekly radio show; our website - planetary.org; and our social media channels. The society achieves some of its programmatic goals through public education mailings that include requests for contributions. As a result, and in accordance with the financial accounting standards board (fasb) guidelines, we allocate a portion of our direct mail costs to program services and to fundraising.
$3,050,239 spentof which $25,000 as grants60% of program spendingMembership:our membership program connects space-interested citizens worldwide and provides opportunities for them to participate in space activities. Our membership activities include maintaining detailed records to support our members and non-members who have chosen to participate in our programs. Our membership team interacts with members and the general public to answer questions and manage benefits and services. The Planetary Society has more than 36,000 members. The society achieves some of its information technology programmatic goals through membership services software that includes the fundraising module. As a result, and in accordance with the financial accounting standards board (fasb) guidelines, we allocate a portion of our software costs to program services and to fundraising.
$1,181,125 spent23% of program spendingSpace policy:The Planetary Society helps shape public policy to ensure nasa has the support and resources to explore planets, search for life, and defend the earth from asteroids.
$548,687 spent$27,256 earned by the program11% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,069,218.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $2.8M to $11M (+277%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of THE PLANETARY SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
William Nye
Director and CEO
Board chair
Dan Geraci
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $287k → $3.0M.
16 of 62 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 68% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $1.0M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Club for the Future). These are real filings, and they are not money THE PLANETARY SOCIETY raised.
From the IRS filings of THE PLANETARY SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 62 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE PLANETARY SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 51% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
68% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE PLANETARY SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 87% · 2018 37% · 2019 73% · 2020 79% · 2021 89% · 2022 65% · 2023 61% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
33% of THE PLANETARY SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
68% of THE PLANETARY SOCIETY's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $3.7M that is directly attributable, 97% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
THE PLANETARY SOCIETY is better cushioned than half of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE PLANETARY SOCIETY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
66% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 25 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE PLANETARY SOCIETY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE PLANETARY SOCIETY?
- THE PLANETARY SOCIETY (California) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,633,163 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($5,950,000). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 68% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE PLANETARY SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 62 organizations giving $11,633,163 in grants to THE PLANETARY SOCIETY, 37 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE PLANETARY SOCIETY?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,950,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE PLANETARY SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 62 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing